Do I ship it?

Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Swordplay game?

Swordplay + Dungeon Crawler

Of 46 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Swordplay game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 99 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2021 the market median. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 99 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 95% on the market, 99 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Swordplay + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $180 → $10k → $11k → $2.4k → $22k → $4.9k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Swordplay + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,485)
Top 25% $58k (exactly $57,540)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,268,965)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 115
Announced 99
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 95% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Swordplay
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Swordplay, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Hack and Slash
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 14,963 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $57k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Swordplay with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelFair13 devs · median $5.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Strategy RPGFair22 devs · median $2.7k · 28 announced
  3. + IdlerFair9 devs · median $2.7k · 4 announced
  4. + Auto BattlerFair13 devs · median $1.1k · 8 announced
  5. + DeckbuildingFair11 devs · median $599 · 13 announced
  6. + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  7. + SamuraiPoor odds12 devs · median $80k · 21 announced
  8. + JRPGPoor odds16 devs · median $14k · 22 announced
  9. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds39 devs · median $13k · 79 announced
  10. + FightingPoor odds13 devs · median $13k · 33 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds19 devs · median $12k · 53 announced
  12. + Base BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 26 announced

All 115 pairs on the Swordplay page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mortal Sin 2025 · $4.2M Legendary Tales 2024 · $3.3M Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms 2024 · $1.6M Labyrinth Of The Demon King 2025 · $1.3M ELDERBORN 2020 · $1.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mortal Sin $24.99 5,583 94% 167k $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) Nikola Todorovic
Legendary Tales older $39.99 2,711 76% 81k $3.3M (exactly $3,252,387) Urban Wolf Games Inc.
Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms $34.99 1,559 72% 47k $1.6M (exactly $1,636,482) Gamera Interactive
Labyrinth Of The Demon King $19.99 2,116 92% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,268,965) J. R. Hudepohl
ELDERBORN older $14.99 2,229 87% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,002,381) Hyperstrange
Karnage Chronicles older $24.99 1,190 85% 36k $892k (exactly $892,143) Nordic Trolls
Grimlord $29.99 927 78% 28k $834k (exactly $834,022) Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd
Battle Talent older $19.99 1,194 77% 36k $716k (exactly $716,042) Cydream
Dungeons of Blood and Dream $18.99 1,173 93% 35k $668k (exactly $668,258) Lori Vornoy
Bloodthief $19.99 1,017 95% 31k $610k (exactly $609,895) Blargis
The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot $9.99 999 98% 30k $299k (exactly $299,400) Stéphane Le Roy
Backpack Jianghu $13.99 565 80% 17k $237k (exactly $237,130) 背包工作室
Ancient Kingdoms · EA $15.99 473 86% 14k $227k (exactly $226,898) Ancient Pixels
Darkblade Ascent $10.99 551 80% 17k $182k (exactly $181,665) PST Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.